Nanotechnology Seed Grant Funding Available to Students and Educators Who Think Big
By Molly Wofford
Students and educators with big ideas for tiny innovations can now apply for seed funding through a new grant opportunity with the San Diego Nanotechnology Infrastructure (SDNI) at UC San Diego, which is offering up to $1,000 in free use of its facilities and services.
SDNI, part of the National Science Foundation’s network of National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure sites, makes nanofabrication and characterization technologies available to researchers and other users looking to develop and understand nanoscale devices and materials. The SDNI facilities are centered around the Nano3 clean rooms (nanoscience, nanogengineering, nanomedicine) at the Qualcomm Institute. Additionally, SDNI includes facilities for biomedical devices and platform development, chip-scale photonics testing, and electron-beam lithography. Successful proposers will be awarded $1,000 in free use and services for student research or educational projects.
“The purpose of these grants is to provide access to groups who do not have the resources for these types of services and to introduce educators and students to SDNI’s unique capabilities.” said Jeff Sandubrae Director of Research Partnerships for SDNI.
The program is looking for proposals that focus on research, early development activity or propose an educational program, such as a class project, lesson plan involving nanoscience experiments, or a field trip to an SDNI facility. Winning projects will be chosen based on several criteria, including need, innovativeness, and how well the project aligns with SDNI’s mission of enabling and accelerating cutting edge scientific research, proof-of-concept demonstration, device and system prototyping, product development, and technology translation.
“We encourage applicants to use this opportunity to propose something truly innovative,” said Sandubrae.
Applications are now open for the SDNI Academic Seed Grant for students and educators. Click here to submit online.
Media Contacts
Alicia Clarke
(858) 822-5825
amclarke@eng.ucsd.edu